Cost of Mite travel hockey?

I live in Pittsburgh and MAY be signing my kid up for the amateur penguins mite team. All of the house leagues in my area are full or have already had try outs so im stuck with the more expensive travel team. Any idea what kind of costs are involved?

I live in Pittsburgh and MAY be signing my kid up for the amateur penguins mite team. All of the house leagues in my area are full or have already had try outs so im stuck with the more expensive travel team. Any idea what kind of costs are involved?

I have never heard of a House league not accepting more skaters. I looked at the Amateur Pens website....that is a AAA league. If that is anything like it is up here in the Northeast then you may want to reconsider unless your kid is one helluva player.

If he is starting out I would suggest calling one of the House league directors about getting him in.

On a side note, if cost is an issue, you will notice on the Amateur Pens website that they are looking for goalies and sometimes you get half off or more depending on how bad they need a goalie......and if your kid wants to play goalie.

I live in Pittsburgh and MAY be signing my kid up for the amateur penguins mite team. All of the house leagues in my area are full or have already had try outs so im stuck with the more expensive travel team. Any idea what kind of costs are involved?

tryouts for house league but the travel team will take ya no questions asked? are you sure about this? it sounds a little backwards.

tryouts for house league but the travel team will take ya no questions asked? are you sure about this? it sounds a little backwards.

Yeah, that does seem a little weird since around here at least (South Jersey) all travel teams had their tryouts in April, or early summer. Only the house leagues are still accepting people and that starts in the fall.

He had his try out with the Amateur Pens over the weekend (saturday and sunday). They have 3 levels of Mite and they want him on the Mite 3 (youngest team). He clearly needs to work on his skating compared to the other kids but they said he chases the puck well and would be a good fit. The cost is around $1000 for the season... They get ice 3 time a week in August and 2 times a week after that. About him playing goalie... Have you ever seen a 5-6 year old with a goaltending coach? This team has one. Crazy if you ask me.

He had his try out with the Amateur Pens over the weekend (saturday and sunday). They have 3 levels of Mite and they want him on the Mite 3 (youngest team). He clearly needs to work on his skating compared to the other kids but they said he chases the puck well and would be a good fit. The cost is around $1000 for the season... They get ice 3 time a week in August and 2 times a week after that. About him playing goalie... Have you ever seen a 5-6 year old with a goaltending coach? This team has one. Crazy if you ask me.

I think thats a pretty fair price, factoring in ice time, jersey(s), coaching, etc. I played Mites / Squirts in Pittsburgh in the early 90s and I think it was more expensive then, at least for my team - and we sucked.

I live in Pittsburgh and MAY be signing my kid up for the amateur penguins mite team. All of the house leagues in my area are full or have already had try outs so im stuck with the more expensive travel team. Any idea what kind of costs are involved?

Enjoy this coming season in travel! Mites will not be able to travel the next season. USA Hockey has changed the rules this year about Mite travel. But this change goes into effect next season. So expect some of those travel kids in the house league next year.

As a program director, I find it hard to believe that they don't have room for your son. All directors go lite on teams for this very reason...late arrivals. I would recommend that you talk with the hockey director to see if this is the case. Some parents might tell you one thing or another to get your kid on a team so they will have enough kids to go travel.

Ask the hockey director to see if they can put another kid up instead of your son if you feel that your son is weak on his skating. Director's don't want to place kids that are a little weak on travel because of several reason.

Why is there travel? Travel teams are the opportunity to showcase your program as a director. So, the team is only as good as your weakest link and when the team travels, most parents on the team will expect all of the kids to be at the same or better caliber. If not, as a program director, I will hear from parents that ticked off for having a kid on the team that is weakening the teams' strength.

Yes I know that this sounds kind of crazy, but it's true...I see it every year. It's kind of funny that hockey is getting so political at the Mite level. But this is one of the reasons why USA Hockey is making a change. Now, it going to be a challenge for the director to have his act together to make sure that all of the teams within the house league at that level as all of equal strength. If not, and one team has more talent them the other teams, as a director, he might have more problems.

Mites is definately worth the investment. There is a big talent gap and if you want your kid to go far in hockey or he has the drive to go far in hockey, mites would be good for him...better than house league anyway

Now that the season is over thought I would bump this thread for those interested. I really enjoyed the travel hockey experience this year and I am so glad we did it. Our kids finished second overall in the standings for the league and managed to pull off a huge upset of the number one team at the season end tourney to capture the last Mite banner to be hung at the rink. Hoping the pic below works

Now that the season is over thought I would bump this thread for those interested. I really enjoyed the travel hockey experience this year and I am so glad we did it. Our kids finished second overall in the standings for the league and managed to pull off a huge upset of the number one team at the season end tourney to capture the last Mite banner to be hung at the rink. Hoping the pic below works

Congrats! On a lighter note, is/was there a big fight as to what player get to wear #87?

No #87! The biggest thing is since USA hockey is going cross ice this really was the last Mite banner that is going to be awarded so we were doubley geeked to win it. They had to over come a team that had several overage kids that had a 3 year difference on them.